Health-care concerns take spotlight at state Capitol

At least 60 Arizona nurses put aside their bedside manner Thursday to protest their working conditions, which they say are unsafe.

The protesters, who were organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee, chanted and marched at the state Capitol in favor of the Arizona Patient Protection Act, a bill that seeks to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals.

Wearing matching red scrub tops, the nurses brandished signs and shouted their support of safe staffing in the midst of the Capitol's Statehood Day celebration.

"Nurses are leaving the profession because they aren't in a position to do their job because of staffing issues," said Rep. Tom Prezelski, a Democrat who sponsored the bill.

The bill would be a "long-term project," Prezelski said. "Eventually, we'll see some kind of standard."

Hospitals now have discretion in staffing decisions, and hospitals want it to stay that way, said Adda Alexander, a registered nurse and executive vice president for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. The association represents hospitals across the state.

Alexander saw the proposed law as a step backward for hospitals and said government should not dictate patient-to-nurse ratios across the state.

Kendig said she thinks hospitals focus more on profit than quality patient care.

"Health care's a big industry now," Kendig said. "The patients come last and the bottom line comes first."

Alexander argues, however, that allowing hospitals to make staffing decisions is better for patients. By letting hospitals determine how much care each patient needs, Alexander says, the current policies are more "patient-centered."

Under the proposed law, nurses in psychiatric units would never have more than four patients at a time. In the past, though, Kendig said, she was responsible for as many as 10 patients at once.

Ann Dichov, who has been a nurse for 22 years, worked in California under the staffing law and said it made a difference in the level of care she was able to provide. Dichov, who now works in Arizona, said with fewer patients, she is able to spend more time using critical-thinking skills to make the best decisions about patient care.

"When there's time for that, the outcomes are always better," Dichov said.